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MYCUN Studios
MYCUN Studios, Inc. is an American animation film production company founded by Geo G. in February 2002 that creates animated feature films, television programs and short films. It had its own computer-animated company, CGI Entertainment, to produce computer-animated films. MYCUN Studios is based in Berks County, Pennsylvania. As of November 2016, MYCUN Studios is now a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox (owned by 21st Century Fox). Originally a joint venture of Universal Studios (owned by NBCUniversal/Comcast) and 20th Century Fox, the studio has released a total of eleven feature films, including franchises of MYCUN, Dannie, The Wonderful World of Zak, and Goggles. Theatrical releases are mostly distributed by Fox, with the exception of some films that are distributed by other film distributors (e.g. Mister Mosquito is distributed by Universal). On September 1, 2016, 21st Century Fox acquired MYCUN Studios for $3.6 billion, making it a division of the Fox Entertainment Group. Name The company's name "MYCUN" stands for "MinionsYesCarrieUnderwoodNo", and it is pronounced as "My-con." It was first discovered by founder Geo G. in early 2002. Geo stated that the name was a "play-up on MYCIN." The company is also named after the franchise of the same name. History 2002–07 MYCUN Studios was founded in February 2002 by Geo G., along with CGI Entertainment. MYCUN Studios is one of his two main production companies, along with Glass Ball Productions. That same month, the studio announced a full slate of animated projects in development: MYCUN: The Movie, Planetokio, Little Guys, Dannie's Long Adventure, and a computer-animated remake of Sky Riders. The studio announced in June 2002 that it had signed with Universal Studios a four-year picture deal to distribute animated films (with the exception of the cancelled 2002 version of Planetokio, which was set to be distributed by Fox in North America and by Universal internationally). Then in 2005, 20th Century Fox announced that they would handle some of MYCUN Studios' films, starting with Dannie's Long Adventure. Before the successful release of MYCUN: The Movie, Universal and Fox were interested to acquire MYCUN Studios as an animation company for both companies, but it never happened. Diversification and expansion (2008–2016) In March 2008, MYCUN Studios signed 20th Century Fox to a long-term deal with the studio to finance and distribute feature films for both domestic and international markets, since Universal lost the distribution rights for the MYCUN Studios films due to the commercial failure of Legend of MYCUN in India. However, the deal did not include the distribution rights of previously released films distributed by Universal, which MYCUN acquired from Universal later in 2011. MYCUN Studios then purchased Universal's distribution rights to the pre-2010 library in September, and since then, MYCUN Studios' current distributor 20th Century Fox has assumed distribution rights to the library. The studio was reported to be acquired two separate times between 2015 and 2016. First, in November 2015 it was reported that Sony Pictures was in talks to acquire MYCUN Studios for a price of $4.2 billion, but the next day, it was reported that Sony had withdrawn its offer. Next it was reported that NBCUniversal was in talks to buy MYCUN Studios in February 2016. The proposal reportedly calls for Geo G. to become its chairman, but as a matter of policy, neither Universal nor MYCUN publicly comment on mergers and acquisitions. Two days later, the talks were reported to have fallen through. 20th Century Fox unit (2016–present) On May 1, 2016, The New York Times reported that 21st Century Fox, 20th Century Fox's parent company, was in talks to acquire MYCUN Studios for $3 billion; the company already has its own feature animation studio, Blue Sky Studios, a division of 21st Century Fox's 20th Century Fox unit best known for the Ice Age franchise. On May 4, 2016, 21st Century Fox officially announced its intent to acquire MYCUN Studios for $3.6 billion, valuing the company at $41 per-share. Geo G. is to remain involved in the company as head of CGI Entertainment, but was to cede control of the studio to Blue Sky Studios' CEO Chris Wedge, who would oversee both. The sale was approved by board members, but is subject to regulatory approval. At Guggenheim Partners' TMT Symposium, 21st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch discussed how the purchase of MYCUN would fit into its business strategies. Murdoch explained that Wedge planned to "take a lot of the existing MYCUN Studios franchises and add value as we create new franchises", and that the main goal was to "take the low-single digit returns of the movie business and turn it into a different kind of business" by creating new intellectual property that can be merchandised and adapted into theme park attractions at the first ever 20th Century Fox theme park, 20th Century Fox World. Murdoch reaffirmed a commitment to animated features, stating that Fox would be able to release as many as four animated films per-year, divided between MYCUN and Blue Sky. MYCUN will continue to honor its distribution contract with Universal, Destination Films, and Warner Bros. Pictures through its conclusion in early 2018, after which Fox is expected to handle every future release, with a exception of Fuzzies, which will be distributed by Universal because of the speculation that the characters of Imaginary Animals and Fuzzies would appear in a film together. On July 22, 2016, during the release of Ice Age: Collision Course, the acquisition was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice. The purchase was closed on September 1, 2016; the company now operates as a division of the Fox Entertainment Group. Although a spokesperson stated that Wedge would work with 20th Century Fox to determine "the most effective path forward for Blue Sky and MYCUN Studios", he did not take over MYCUN as was previously announced, and the two studios remain separate. MYCUN's digital, marketing, consumer products, and gaming divisions will be absorbed into 21st Century Fox. Projects The studio's first feature film was MYCUN: The Movie, distributed by Universal (United States distributor) and Fox (international distributor) and released on December 16, 2005, which became Universal's highest-grossing animated film and spawned three computer-animated sequels. Its second feature film, Dannie's Long Adventure was released by on September 8, 2006, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and won two Annie Awards. Mister Mosquito, released on May 25, 2007, was the studio's first fully computer-animated film and CGI Entertainment's first feature film as well. The studio's first sequel, Legend of MYCUN, opened in the United States on February 1, 2008, becoming the studio's most successful release. Their fifth film and first stop-motion film, Little Guys, was released on November 25, 2009 and was nominated for four Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature. MYCUN Studios has wrapped up production on the fourth installment of the MYCUN franchise, titled MYCUN Forever, released on May 30, 2016. The studio is currently working on 3 Simple Doods and 1 Simple Doodette (2017), The Ronald McDonald Movie (2017), Nature Cat: The Movie (2017), The Wonderful World of Zak 2: Eggs, Pizza & Sugar (2017), Caleb: Legend of the Time Crystal (2017), Dannie 4 (2018), The Monstories Movie (2018), Goggles 2 (2018), MYCUN Redemption (2019), Fuzzies (2019), Planetokio (2020), an untitled original animated film (2020) and Imaginary Animals vs. Fuzzies (2020). It has many other projects in development, including A Dino For Fork, a feature-length version of the South Korean short film Alarm, Horrid Henry, Superworld, and The Relaxing House. Distribution MYCUN Studios originally had a distribution partnership between Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox. After MYCUN: The Movie, the studio starts producing two films for distribution with Fox and Universal between 2006 and 2007. Dannie's Long Adventure was distributed by Fox only (thus making the studio's first film to be distributed by the said company only) while Mister Mosquito was distributed by Universal only. The last MYCUN Studios film with the collaboration between Universal and Fox was Legend of MYCUN, released in 2008, because of the commercial failure of the film in India. Eventually, Universal and Fox were switched in places, in which Fox distributed the film in the United States while Universal distributed the film worldwide. After Legend of MYCUN, no films were made by the studio that were distributed by Universal, as every film by the studio were distributed by Fox only in both domestic and international markets. With 3 Simple Doods and 1 Simple Doodette and The Wonderful World of Zak 2: Eggs, Pizza & Sugar set to be released by Fox in 2017, the studio started the produce three films for different distribution companies, starting with The Ronald McDonald Movie distributed by Universal, making the first time a film produced by MYCUN Studios was distributed by Universal since Mister Mosquito domestically and Legend of MYCUN internationally, Nature Cat: The Movie distributed by Destination Films (in the United States), by Entertainment One (in Canada) and by StudioCanal (in the United Kingdom), and Caleb: Legend of the Time Crystal distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Due to 21st Century Fox's acquisition of MYCUN Studios in September 2016, Fox will distribute every future release from the studio. Despite being a 20th Century Fox subsidiary, MYCUN Studios will produce Fuzzies and Imaginary Animals vs. Fuzzies for Universal. Character rights Coming soon! Filmography Feature films Released films Upcoming films Films in development Cancelled films There are some films that are unmade and unreleased by MYCUN Studios. Some of these films were, or still are, in development limbo. 2002 *''Sky Riders'' - This computer-animated remake of the 1976 action film was developed by C. Elbourn. 20th Century Fox canceled the project due to story problems. *''Nerd Boy'' - The story is said to center on a geeky teenager who becomes a superhero. It was scrapped right after MYCUN: The Movie started production in December 2003. 2003 *''Untitled Futurama film'' - Futurama co-creator David X. Cohen wrote a treatment for a Futurama feature film to MYCUN Studios before the show's cancellation. It was to center on a dilemma for Fry, but it never begin production. *''Greenwoods'' - The project follows the story of a young man who got lost in the woods with fairy tale creatures. 2004 *''Planetokio (original version)'' - In February 2002, a computer-animated film adaptation based on the Planetokio game series was announced to be in development, along with MYCUN Studios' other films in development. This proposed film was specifically said to be based on the first game in the series. It was being directed by Steve Samono and Osamu Sato, the creator of Planetokio. Set to be released in 2007, the cast would have feature the voice cast from the games, including Debi Derryberry, Lauren Tom, George Takei, Maurice LaMarche, and Corey Burton. Due to creative reasons, production was ultimately shut down in 2004, in favor of Mister Mosquito. However, the two lead characters from Planetokio, Iken and Naomi, appear in the MYCUN franchise since 2012. *''Cland Ann 2'' - MYCUN Studios planned a proposed sequel to Cland Ann: The Movie, which was based on the ABC animated sitcom of the same name. It was cancelled before it began production. It was later reworked into Cland Ann: Silo Wilo Strikes Back. 2005 *''The Shackers'' - Back in 2003, this was going to be an computer-animated feature distributed by Universal Pictures, but in 2005 it was dropped for an unknown reason. The plot of The Shackers is unknown. *''MYCUN: The Movie 2 (Original version)'' - This original version of the 2008 sequel to MYCUN: The Movie, Legend of MYCUN, was originally going to focused on Carrie Underwood escaping from jail and reunites her henchmen to track down Gabriel and the MYCUNs and destroy the world. She later teams up with Koba, who was still hiding from the tree from the graveyard from the first film, to take over the whole world. Fearing the world's destruction, Gabriel and his group of MYCUNs (Red, Gru, the Minions, Toon Link, Ico, Yorda, Coraline, Norman and Aggie) venture out to defeat Carrie, Koba and their henchmen and save the world. At the same time, Carrie and Koba kidnap the newcomers of the MYCUNs and Gabriel's favorite other characters. *''Pizza Boy'' - It was described as "a story about a boy who dreams of owning a pizza restaurant." 2006 *''If You Give a Mouse a Cookie'' - An adaptation based on Laura Numeroff's book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. In May 2005, it was reported that the book was optioned to MYCUN Studios, and its development was announced in December 2006 as a 2D/3D animated hybrid film. 2007 *''Mister Mosquito 2'' - Universal was set to adapt Ka 2: Let's Go Hawaii, as a stand-alone sequel to the film adaptation, Mister Mosquito (2007). However, due to the box-office failure, the film was cancelled. *''Rez'' - In 2003, an animated film based on Rez was announced by Universal and MYCUN Studios to be in production. Tetsuya Mizuguch was set to write the film's screenplay, but the production was eventually canceled. 2008 *''Gunboy'' - This proposed project for Universal would have followed a young boy who becomes a gunfighter to defeat monsters in an unknown place. It was planned to be released in 2010, but it was delayed to 2011. Due to the commercial failure of Universal's international release of Legend of MYCUN in India, which it caused Universal to lose the distribution rights for some of MYCUN Studios' films, they canceled the film. However, it was revived in May 2012 as Untitled Twin Pistol Project. 2009 *''Little Guys 2'' - After the release of Little Guys (2009), Fox had plans for a sequel. Variety stated that the sequel was cancelled due to story problems. 2010 *''Another Code: Two Memories'' - This proposed motion-captured animated film would have been based on the point-and-click adventure game of the same name. It would have been directed by Taylor Grodin and Mike Moon, the directors of Legend of MYCUN. Fox could not afford the rights to the film, so it was scrapped. *''The Nameless Game'' - This proposed feature film directed by Audel LaRoque was to be based on the survival horror video game Nanashi no Game, which follows a college student at Nanto University, Tokyo who becomes cursed by the titular role-playing game, which causes people to die in seven days upon starting. However, Fox refused to green-light the project because it was too dark. *''Castle'' - Based on the web series by Oscar Johansson, it was originally directed by Michael Wildshill, and scheduled for a Christmas 2010 release. This film was to be the third animated feature film collaboration between Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and MYCUN Studios. However, the project was shelved in June 2006, though it returned development in 2008. 2011 *''Seasons'' - In 2011, Jose Garcia pitched his own film to MYCUN Studios execs, although it never came to fruition. This was later reworked into a personal graphic novel. Direct-to-video TV Specials Short films Television series Logo Units *CGI Entertainment (formerly known as VerniX Animation Studios) *Clearwater Animation (2009–present) *The Laser Picture Company (2011–present) *MYCUN Redwood (formerly known as Pacific Data Images) Theme park attractions While MYCUN Studios has never had its own theme park, theme parks have made rides based on MYCUN Studios films and co-productions. *''MYCUN: Give It A Ride!, a simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida. Also existed at Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore. Trivia *The MYCUNs are the official mascots of MYCUN Studios. *Starting with their first film ''MYCUN: The Movie, MYCUN Studios started to use the "MinionsYesCarrieUnderwoodNo" wordmark on the back interior of their film soundtracks of some MYCUN Studios films. Gallery MYCUN Studios logo2.png See also *List of MYCUN Studios films *MYCUN Studios/film schedule timeline References Category:Companies Category:MYCUN: The Movie Wiki Category:MYCUN Studios Category:CGI Entertament